Oral cleaning devices, both electric and non-electric, are known in the industry and in the prior art. Numerous patents have issued throughout the years to cover various improvements and novel features in the oral cleaning industry. Most oral cleaning devices directed to flossing require a sawing back and forth motion or a vibrating back and forth motion. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,809 requires a dental floss to be reciprocated along an axis substantially parallel to the axis of a handle (if the dental floss apparatus is positioned upright, the floss would be moving in an up and down motion). Alternatively, the motor mechanism moves a shaft in the handle only along the handle's longitudinal axis, which would impart the same movement in the dental floss attached to the shaft (again, the motion would be an up and down motion if the apparatus is standing in an upright position). U.S. Pat. RE 35,712 discloses a sonic dental device that includes a flossing head that stores extra dental floss such that a user may exchange used dental floss with new floss. U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,796 is directed to an automated dental flosser that includes a twine of floss held in the body of the device for which a user may dispense unused floss.
In one aspect of the prior art, movement of the oral cleaning heads (including flossing heads and brush heads) is done by vibrating the end of the neck of the device, such that the head vibrates or moves with the movement of the neck. In order to effectively transmit the vibration of the handle to the floss, the floss must be taut. Otherwise vibration is lost and no mechanical cleaning of the tooth by the electric flosser is achieved. The present invention provides for a different movement that may be beneficial to the user as it causes less lacerations and less sewing motion. The present invention also provides, in one embodiment, an electric oral cleaning device that includes interchangeable heads and provides for an oscillating head that may include a flossing tool or various brush head designs. In another aspect, the present invention provides for a loose piece of floss material secured between the two opposable arms of the flossing tool.